Week 6 - Romans 9:25-10:13
Romans 9:25-10:13
25 As he says in Hosea:
“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”
26 and,
“In the very place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”
27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.
28 For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”
29 It is just as Isaiah said previously:
“Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.”
30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:
“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
Romans 10
1 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
As we continue through Romans 9 and into 10, Paul is still painstakingly addressing his fellow Jews. He begins by quoting out of the book of Hosea a passage that references the relational journey of the Israelites with their God. The Israelites relationship with God was one of rebellion despite the faithfulness of God shown toward them. He quotes this prophecy of Hosea to reveal that only some of them will be rescued and that even those are simply a result of God’s graciousness.
Paul then pivots to show that the gentiles were found right with God through faith but that the Israelites in their attempt to follow the law, as a way to be found righteous, had failed. They failed because they didn’t recognize that the law was to point them to the Messiah, Jesus. They had stumbled over the foundation stone on which their lives were to be built. They didn’t recognize Jesus as the one who gave His life so that their hearts could be transformed, allowing them to be able to fulfill and follow the law they so desperately looked to for approval and righteousness.
Jesus has already come to earth and lived a perfect life (fulfilling the law) and had already been raised from the dead (defeating all foes and rendering all people able to do the same). The message to both Jews and Gentiles alike was that they now could and should profess Jesus as Messiah and Lord, confess their allegiance to Him and allow Him to transform their hearts so that they would be able to obey and follow the ways of the Lord.
Questions:
In what ways do you find yourself working to meet God’s approval?
How does the knowledge that God will change your heart when you choose to place Him first and follow Him affect how you view God?
God promises that anyone who believes in Him (chooses to follow Him) will never be put to shame. What does this mean to you?